HI I am new to home inspector business but not new to real estate. I am a real estate investor, own rentals, manage my own properties and have done some rehabs . I am on the last leg to get my Florida certification like the house of horrors, pretty cool set up.
I was wondering if there are inspectors that work part time like 1 hose a day or only few days out of the week. I am still employed with the airlines witch gives me a LOT of flexibility on my schedule. I ask because I like to field of inspection but can not dive in as a full time but I don’t mind taking time off to start getting more into the inspection business. Any Feed back is appreciated
Thanks
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I am a full time career fire captain. I do home inspections on my days off.
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You do understand that performing inspections is only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the job, right??
(Unless you intend for this to only be a hobby).
I work shift-work (nights) for the Federal Govt which provides a lot of time off and flexibility. I started my Home Inspection business this year and I too do inspections on my days off, or sometimes before working my other job. Doing this part-time is hard to compete against the “Full-timers” but it can be done. Like most things it will be what you make of it… Good luck!
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I am an engineer on a tug boat and work 1 week on 1 week off and soon I’ll be switching to 2 weeks on 2 weeks off to help my business have more flexibility. Having that schedule gives me 6 months off a year to do inspections. Having the ability to do them on my time off is incredible because I don’t have to quit my day job which pays really well already. I have the best of both worlds.
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Doing research, writing reports and getting educated are the other 2/3 - 3/4 of the job I’m presuming?
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I am a full time pastor of a church. Pastoring requires a lot of me on the evenings and weekends, but during the day I have quite a bit of flexibility. So I inspect houses part time during the week. 6-10 inspections per week is a lot of fun and helps me provide for my family.
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Don’t forget the part about actually running a profitable business (thus my hobby comment). That alone can take 50% of your time. In the beginning stages of building your business, marketing is a major drain on available non-inspection time. There is so much more to do than the ‘fun stuff’!! Most new inspectors fail because they do not know, understand, or acknowledge what all is involved simply to survive in this industry.
Good luck.
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Marketing, absolutely, wise man.
One hidden barricade is the cost of insurance. Several insurers want a certain minimum of income every year to even consider you. So you might end up with a more expensive policy than you planned for.
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Part timer here…I’m a stay at home mom half the week to my 4.5 yo, I have 3 other businesses. I’m a wood floor restorer with my partner, I teach motorcycle safety for HD, and I have my own wood floor biz. All are part time and it’s hard to be an inspector part time. You make wayyyy less because reports take longer. It will take me a while to become proficient with my software and build a library. Add 2 hours on every inspection for reporting until you write one every day…total guess.
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Wow Jenna, you are one busy lady!
Best of luck!
I also a a full-time pastor in a smaller community. Been inspecting for 5+ years now.
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HI David thanks for answering this blog, how long ago did you started doing inspection?, what was your background on residential? How this is working out for you? I like to learn a little bit more about members in the area and have a feel for the trade.
I forgot, did you started on your own?
Jeff Thanks for answering this blog I appreciate your participation, yes understand the inspection is only 1/3 of the job, I am most concern about the wording on the report since I have work in aviation maintenance inspector for over 28 yrs and the way we express deficiency and faults is very different in residential, but I will learn.
How long have you being doing inspections?
Thank you for your Service!
Back in the midevil times they used to mix straw, mud, horse manure and than mold them into bricks and stick them into kilns for a few hours. This is how they made bricks back then and still do in some areas of Mexico for distribution. Jeff used to inspect those bricks when they laid them on castles. That’s how long he’s been inspecting.
I’m an engineer on the Mississippi River, my schedule is 28/28. I am just getting into home inspections, love the fact that I can devote 6 months a year into this business. Any words of advice on my start up?
My “start up” was almost 2 years in the making. We have an incredible opportunity because of our schedules AND don’t have to quit our jobs. Use your off watch time to educate yourself as much as possible and your time home to get the start up going. Since you have a reliable job (that pays very well) I can’t stress enough for you to take your time, do your local market research and develop your business before you “go live.” I took my time and it paid off very well.
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